2010

• Hosted in: Minsk, Belarus

• Won by: Armenia – Mama by Vladimir Arzumanyan

You might think that the EBU execs are drunk enough to not notice that a Western country finally won Junior Eurovision last year – no, they’re sober enough to held a bidding process. The Netherlands, as per Junior Eurovision tradition, withdrew. Despite their hard-working efforts to diversify the contest and finally bring back the contest to the west, unfortunately Belarus’ bid, supported by Alexander Rybak (shock horror!), won, and we’re stuck in the ex-Soviet boundary once again, though as we’ll see, the trophy might as well return where it actually belonged. Also, UNICEF is back. Yup, get ready to donate your hard-earned cash to them again. I still wonder why they skipped last year, otherwise they’ll be more than happy for those Barcelona-loving Armenians to promote them.

2010 saw a change in organizing broadcaster for Sweden, with commercial broadcaster TV4 being replaced by non-commercial broadcaster SVT, who once has this role in the first 3 editions. And while we’re didn’t see a junior version of the Melodifestivalen, the aptly named "Lilla Melodifestivalen" like in the first 3 years, and instead an internal selection, it might give some slither of hope for the Swedish, who were still confused about why they didn’t dominate Junior Eurovision. However, despite a change in organization, there was hardly a change in the mood at all. Once again, another emotional Swedish-language ballad with heartfelt delivery. Apparently, no one told SVT execs that that doesn’t work in previous years, and the result is a worse position than 2009 – 11th place.

It is actually hilarious for Sweden to be blind about the actual quirkiness contestants require to win – Georgia, having in good mood for the past two years just after that now-legendary Bzikebi win (bzbzbzbzbzbzbzbzbz) sent in Mariam Kakhelishvili with her song “Mari Dari”. Mariam, nicknamed by many as Baby Gaga, danced with a group of pink-haired performers, and sung in an imaginary language (which many thought it was Georgian anyway) with eclectic self-designed outfits. Does that sound familiar? It finished 4th. Sweden eat your heart out.

Remember when I said ballads doesn’t work anymore? Actually ballads still work, it’s just that they’re Swedish. Sonja Skoric from Serbia gave us an enchanting ballad that showcased her emotive delivery and vocal maturity. Basically it was akin to Sweden’s. Unlike Sweden, Serbia finished 3rd which made you wonder is Sweden actually cursed or they just lack a national selection?

While we do see the withdrawal of some Eastern countries, mainly Cyprus and Romania, Moldova debuted and Latvia and Lithuania returned. Actually, this is the year we see the absolute climax of ex-Soviet domination. The top 6 are dominated by former Soviet republics, with the exception of Serbia. Let’s talk about Moldova anyway, who decided to go Arabic. Ștefan Roșcovan sang “Ali Baba”, a playful Middle Eastern-themed pop song, accompanied by masked people holding fake swords. Despite the questionable choice of theme, Moldova had a decent debut year, finishing 8th. Meanwhile, Malta had “Knock knock, boom boom!”, calm down, why are you guys bang doors? Certainly the public didn’t really enjoy that impression, Malta finished 13th.

This year saw yet another dramatic last-minute comeback during the voting procedure, but also one of the closest races in Junior Eurovision history – with the top two entries separated by one glorious point. The countries in question are Russia, featuring Sasha Lazin & Liza Drozd, a dynamic duet with strong vocals and big-band flair, and Armenia, a heartfelt ballad dedicated to his mother, blending innocence and sincerity with a memorable red scarf stage motif, accompanied by a giant pop-up book.

Going into calling the final spokesperson, Sara Markoska of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Russia was leading over Armenia by 8 points. All Russia have to do is for Armenia to receive no more than 8 points to win the contest. Right away Russia got 1 point. Everything was going their way when the Macedonian representative announced the last 5 points… until she gave 10 points to Armenia. Absolute heartbreak.

Nevertheless, “Mama” by Vladimir Arzumanyan is a fairly decent ballad-pop, something you would by a CD of in Armenia. And so ex-Soviet countries now dominate the last 6 years of Junior Eurovision bar once, that remains Ralf from the Netherlands in 2009. There’s even more good news from Vladimir however that not only the trophy is going to Armenia… the contest itself is too!

Presentation and format

After winning the contest twice prior, Belarus finally got a share of hosting the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2010, which was hosted at the Minsk Arena, hosted by Denis Kourian and Leila Ismailava. The trophy, which Denis is holding in the screenshot, is a physical version of the theme art made of plastic, which is a quite dotty representation of different people, cultures and countries forming the shape of wings, symbolizing the freedom, ease of flying, creative inspiration and rising above.

Nowadays 12 points isn’t no longer just literally 12 points, it’s now a metaphor of appreciation in Eurovision terms. Aside from the sympathy 12 points given to each contestant, as once again been the case since 2005, the hosts also give the metaphorical 12 points back to Svante Stockselius, who is now in his final year as the contest’s executive supervisor. During the voting procedure, the Belarusian spokesperson, Anastasiya Butyugina, bizzarely, announced the points directly from the Minsk Arena itself, though, this would become JESC tradition...

The show was opened by Ksenia Sitnik and Alexey Zhigalkovich, the previous Belarusian winners, performing “Hello, Eurovision”. They are later joined by every other Junior Eurovision winner up until this point during the interval act, making this performance the only time all previous winners performed together (a similar one was performed in 2022, but some winners are absent). This includes Dino Jelusick, which was, unfortunately, the only time he appeared in the Junior Eurovision stage since his win in 2003, other than handing over the trophy in 2004. Nice to see Maria Isabel’s voice staying the same for 6 years (or was that lip-syncing), and still alive.

This is followed by a UNICEF-themed common song, which at this point became a Junior Eurovision tradition that only started in 2007. All participants, alongside Dmitry Koldun, performed “A Day without War”, while wearing blue scarves. This is preceded by “Europe’s skies” performed by Alexander Rybak (thanks a bunch, we know you’re born in Belarus)

The postcards consist of some regular activities, and some irregular ones (in Armenia’s case, going to an airport only to be transported by a flying carpet) with a color-changing ball involved one way or another. Followed by, as this is now Junior Eurovision tradition, the upcoming performers introducing themselves and their song.